ALLURING DAMSELS OF HEAVEN (APSARAS)

ALLURING DAMSELS OF HEAVEN (APSARAS)If the clothes be of heat and cold and the food be of the wind, the alluring women of heaven be there everywhere. OR The alluring woffien of heaven may all go away. Still I may Praise Thee, O Lord! and the eagerness of my utterance may not diminish. (Var Majh, M. l, p. 142) The reference to the alluring women of heaven is, in fact, a reference to the Apsaras, who are said t.p reside in the heaven of Indra. They rose from the milk-ocean at the time of its churning.

They are celestial being in resplendent forms. None of the gods could wed then because they did not undergo puriflcation. Therefore. they became women of easy virtue and wives of Gandharvas. They are also presented as a reward to yi heroes fallen in battle. Some of the important Apsaras are Menaka, Rambha and Thilothama, who are sent by Indra to shake the virtue of penitent sages.

References :

1. Kohli, Surindar Singh, Dictionary of Mythological References in Guru Granth Sahib, 1993